Cooler for rotary compressors.



[I W. GRUN.

COOLER FOR ROTARY OOMPRESSORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8,1911.

Patented Jan. 26,1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS c0. PHOTO LITHOH WASHINGTON, D c.

NEED STATES llQEQ COOLER FOR ROTARY COMPRESSORS.

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To all tuhom it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, WILLIBALD GRUN, a citizen of the German Empire, and a resident of F rankfort-on-the-Main, Germany,.

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coolers for Rotary Compressors, of which the following is a specification.

Rotary compressors or so-called turbocompressors are customarily made with partitions having cooling chambers of intricate construction. In order to maintain the cooling efliciency of these chambers, it is of great importance to keep their walls clean. The cleaning operation may be a mechanical or a chemical one, but with the structures employed hitherto, it was necessary to stop the compressor during the cleaning operation.

My present invention affords the possibility of cleaning the walls of the cooling chambers during the operation of the compressor. For this purpose, the cooling chamber of any one of the several stages can be disconnected individually from the supply of cooling water and cleaned separately without disturbing the water circulation in the coolers of the other stages. It is true, the stage thus cut out from the water circulation will become heated to a somewhat higher temperature than when water circulates through the cooling chamber of this particular stage. This greater heating of the air or other medium undergoing compression is however compensated largely by radiation and by the cooling action in the subsequent stages, which action becomes more energetic on account of the greater difference of temperatures. Besides, even if the efficiency should be reduced slightly. this of course occurs only during the relatively short time required for cleaning, and therefore constitutes no serious drawback. In most cases, when one of the cooler sections is cut out as explained, I prefer not to reduce the total amount of cooling water supplied to the compressor so that the amount of water supplied to each of the cooler sections remaining in operation is greater than it was before the disconnecting of the one section. On account of this increased flow of water through the sections remaining in operation, the cooling action of these sections is further improved, so that in this case the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 8, 1911.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

Serial 110,637,504.

total cooling eiiiciency is not affected at all by the disconnecting of one cooler section.

The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example, two forms of compressors embodying my present invention.

Figure l is a side elevation, with parts in section, of a rotary air compressor having cooler sections connected in parallel; Fig. 2 is a cross section on line AB of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a compressor having cooler sections normally connected in series; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line In the construction illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2, the cooling water enters through the connection a into the supply chamber 6, from which individual pipes 0 lead to the several cooling chambers or cooler sections interposed within the successive stages or sections (Z of the compressor. The rotary part of the compressor may be of any usual or approved construction, and is not shown in the drawings. The cooler sections may be of any suitable construction. As shown in Fig. 2, each cooler section has radialpartitions p the upper one of which extends the full width of the chamber while the others terminate alternately short of the inner wall and of the outer wall, thus forming two tortuous channels leading from the inlet pipe 0 to the two outlets m, n located at opposite sides of the upper partition 2). It may thus be said that the cooler section or chamber is divided into two compartments in one of which, 7, the water flows in a general anticlockwise direction, while the general direction of flow in the other compartment, g, is clockwise.

Each of the inlets c is controlled by a suitable valve 6 which can be operated independently of the other valves. Similarly, each of the outlets m, n, from the compartments 7, g respectively, is controlled by independent valves h, 6 respectively. Then these outlet valves are open, the .cooling liquid passes to a collector is and to a suitable outlet channel Z which in the example shown is located in the head on the pressure or delivery side of the air compressor.

By closing its valves 6, h, 2', any one of the cooler sections can be disconnected from the water circulation, and cleaned in any suitable manner, as by the introduction of chemicals through openings provided for this purpose. In the normal operation, the several cooling chambers or cooler sections are connected in parallel. The valves 6, 72., Z enable me not only to cut out any one of the cooler sections without interfering with the .circulation through the other sections, but also, by adjusting the valves, to regulate the proportion of water flowing through the individual chambers or sections. Even the distribution of the water between the two compartments f, g of the same cooler section may be varied by .a proper manipulation of the outlet valves m, 71, although the two compartments shown in Fig. 2 have a common water inlet 0. In some cases, it may be preferred to extend the lower vertical partition 7) to the outer wall of the cooler section, and to provide separate inlets for each of the compartments 7, r of the same cooler section. Such an arrangement would facilitate the regulation of the circulation through the two compartments, and would also enable one compartment to be cut out for cleaning, while leaving the other compartment in operation.

In the construction illustrated by Figs. 3 and 3, the successive sections or stages of the compressor, with their coolers, are designated by d, (Z (Z (Z Any suitable construction may be adopted for the cooler sections, for instance one similar to that described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. In line with the supply pipe a I have shown pipe sections 6, b b 6 from which connections 0', c c 0 (controlled by valves 6, e e 6",) lead to the individual cooler sections. The last section b is connected by a pipe 0 with the outlet pipe Z. The sections of the cooler also have connections m, m m m leading to pipe sections is, 70 7c the last of which is connected with the outlet pipe Z. Valves 1*, r r 1' are provided in the pipe sections 2), b 6 If, and similarly, valves 8, s s s are located in the pipe sections is, 70 70 it. Each of the connections m m m is provided with a controlling valve ]L2, [1. k no such valve is required for the first connection m.

In the normal operation of the compressor shown in Figs. 3 and 3 the several cooler sections are connected in series, the valves 1", 1' 8 .9 being closed, while all the other valves are open. The water will therefore circulate through the following path: Supply pipe a, connection 0, cooler section of stage cZ, connection m, pipe section 70, connection m cooler section of stage (Z connection a, pipe section 6 connection 0 cooler section of stage (i connection m pipe section 70 connection m cooler section of stage (Z connection 0", pipe section 6, connecting pipe 0, and outlet pipe Z.

If it is desired to cut out the cooler section of the stage d, the valve 6' in the connection 0 and the valves r 1", s, s will be closed, all other valves'being open. In this case the circulation path will be as follows: a, b, 0 (Z m 0 m (Z3, 0 b 0 d, m, 10*, Z.

Again, if it is desired to cut out the cooler section of the stage 0Z the valves 7L r,1- and s will be closed, all the other valves being open. The circulation path in this case will be as follows: a, 0, d, m, k, 70 m (Z 0 Z2 0 6Z m, 70 Z.

The cooler section cut out from the circulation can be cleaned in any suitable manner without interrupting the flow of water through the other cooler sections.

It has been assumed that in the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 3 each of the cooler sections has a single inlet and a single outlet. Should it be desired to subdivide the cooler chamber into two independent com partments, as suggested above in connection with Fig. 2, there would have to be provided two sets of pipe connections and two sets of valves, corresponding to such compartments.

For the sake of simplicity, the valves have been indicated by circles in Fig. 3. It will of course be understood that instead of valves I may employ cocks or other fluidcontrollers, and in the appended claims I have used the term valves in a generic sense, to include cocks and other equivalents. The number of valves or other controllers may be reduced about one-half from that shown in Fig. 3, by disposing them at the junction of the connections 0, c c 0 and m M on with the respective pipe sections b, 6 b Z9 and It, 70 70 k respectively. Three-way cocksv or other suitable controllers would be used at these points. These and various other modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention;

1. A rotary compressor having a body comprising a plurality of adjacent sections each provided with an internal cooling chamber, connections for conducting a cooling medium to and from the cooling chambers of the several sections, and valves by the operation of which an individual section may be cut out from the circulation without interfering with the circulation through the other sections.

2. A multi-stage rotary compressor comprising a plurality of sections arranged in tandem fashion, each of said sections containing a cooling chamber having an inlet and an outlet, and means for controlling said inlets and outlets individually.

3. A multi-stage rotary compressor having a plurality of sections arranged in tandem fashion and containing cooling chambers, a supply chamber. and an outlet collector having individual connections with each of said cooling chambers, and valves controlling the connection of said supply chamber and of the outlet collector with the respective individual cooling chamber connections.

4:. An apparatus having a cooling device constructed in a plurality of sections each containing a plurality of separate compartments, connections for conducting a cooling medium to and from said compartments, and valves by the operation of which an individual cooler compartment may be cut out from the circulation without interfering with the circulation through the other compartments whether of the same or of other sections.

5. In an apparatus having a cooling device constructed in a plurality of sections, connections for passing a cooling medium through said cooler sections successively, and valves by the operation of which an individual cooler section may be cut out from the circulation without interrupting the circulation through the other sections.

6. A multi-stage rotary compressor having a plurality of sections arranged in tandem fashion and containing separate cooling chambers, each cooling chamber being divided into a plurality of compartments, connections for conducting a cooling medium to and from said compartments, and valves by the operation of which an individual cooling compartment may be cut out from the circulation without interfering with the circulation through the other compartments whether of the same or of other chambers.

7. A multi-stage rotary compressor having a plurality of sections arranged in tandem fashion and each containing a cooling chamber, connections for passing a cooling medium successively through the several cooling chambers, and valves by the operation of which an individual cooling chamber may be cut out from the circulation without interrupting the circulation through the other chambers.

8. A multi-stage rotary compressor comprising a substantially cylindrical casing with interior Walls or partitions which form spaced connected compression chambers and intervening cooling chambers located within said casing between said compression chambers, and valves by the operation of which an individual cooling chamber may be cut out from the circulation without interrupting the circulation through the other cooling chambers.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two sub scribing witnesses.

WILLIBALD GRUN.

lVitnesses J EAN GRUND, CARL GRUND. 

